Furthering the Legacy of Governor James J. Florio

Private philanthropy in support of the Governor James J. Florio Policy Leadership Fund to name the Governor James J. Florio Policy Forum on the Rutgers campus will enhance the student experience and fortify the Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy’s infrastructure and its scholarly future. Your support will make a difference, and every gift is greatly appreciated.

Tax-deductible gifts to the endowment may be made by visiting https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/florio-visiting-scholar/17925.html. For other inquiries please contact the Rutgers University Foundation at 848-932-7777 or RUFoundation@winants.rutgers.edu

Governor James J. Florio has dedicated his life to public service. Following a tour in the U.S. Navy, he served three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, and then represented New Jersey’s First Congressional District from 1975 to 1990. The highlight of his career in the U.S. House of Representatives was the drafting and passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, known as the “Superfund” law, which led to the clean-up of hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. He also sponsored all AMTRAK reauthorization bills, and drafted legislation to privatize Conrail and deregulate U.S. freight railroads.

As New Jersey’s Governor from 1990 to 1994, he continued his efforts on behalf of the environment and transportation by signing the Clean Water Enforcement Act, expanding the scope of activity for New Jersey Transit, and sponsoring the Access to the Region’s Core Program for mass transit. He added substantial increases in education funding, welfare reform, auto insurance reform, health care cost reduction, and assault weapons ban to his list of accomplishments.

Governor Florio continued his service as a Senior Fellow for Public Policy at Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, a nationally-ranked school of planning and public policy, where he taught classes and guest lectures for the next generation of policy makers through his passing in September 2022.

The Bloustein School is honored to have had Governor Florio on our faculty, and sought to recognize his public service by creating a named, endowed visiting scholar program in public policy, and through the renaming of our auditorium as the Governor James J. Florio Special Events Forum.

In partnership with the offices of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, & Fader LLC, the Bloustein School continues to seek financial support to endow a high-level visiting scholar. The annual Governor James J. Florio Distinguished Visiting Scholar of Public Policy is a former senior government official or policy practitioner, focusing on an issue that was central to Governor Florio’s legislative and gubernatorial career. The scholar will meet and interact with Bloustein School graduate and undergraduate students and faculty and will also present a featured public lecture at the school.

Additionally, the school’s auditorium and atrium in the Civic Square Building has been renamed The Governor James J. Florio Special Events Forum. One of the premier event spaces on the Rutgers campus, the space includes a seating capacity of up to 160 and includes state-of-the-art sound, visual and technology features. With thousands of students, faculty, scholars, business leaders, high-level government officials, and senior university leaders frequenting the space each year, we are confident that the Governor James J. Florio Special Events Forum will be a hallmark on the Rutgers campus and the State of New Jersey.